Prenuptial Agreement Between Millionaire and Wife Thrown Out

 Posted on March 18, 2013 in Distribution of Assets

A Brooklyn appellate court decided that a prenuptial agreement between Elizabeth Petrakis and her husband, Peter Petrakis, will be thrown out. This decision almost never happens, according to Elizabeth’s attorney. Her lawyer also stated that "To a large degree, this has upset the heretofore common thinking that prenups were not subject to challenge. ... Now there&s precedent for vacating a prenup."

According to this article in the Huffington Post, the prenup was presented to Elizabeth three months before the marriage. It stated that she would get $25,000 for every year they were married, but all assets acquired during their marriage would belong to Peter in case of a divorce. Elizabeth refused to sign it until four days before the wedding, when Peter told her he’d tear it up once they had children.

Unfortunately, Peter never tore it up—an act which Elizabeth’s attorney calls fraud. This deception was the grounds for the case, and why the appellate court ruled in Elizabeth’s favor.

Peter Petrakis is worth between 20 and 30 million, according to the article.

Prenuptial agreements have been becoming more common, rising 73 per cent in the past five years. A poll done by Harris Interactive in 2010 also showed that 1/3 of the 2,000 singles questioned would sign or ask for a prenup before getting married. And although most prenups are not overturned, many times divorce lawyers can present their case successfully based on paperwork errors, if one party hid some assets, or if the agreement was presented without enough time to look it over before the marriage occurred.

Most prenuptial agreements deal with financial issues such as real estate or division of bank accounts in case of a divorce. They may help proceedings to go a bit quicker, but overall divorce is a complicated and tricky subject. If you’re currently going through a divorce in Illinois, having an experienced attorney can help with the stress and legal issues. Contact our law firm in Lombard today to learn more.

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